"elements" news and stories

In China, they have an extra season.

Spring, Summer, Late Summer, Fall, and Winter make up the five seasons of the Chinese calendar; corresponding with the five Chinese elements and a number of their healing philosophies.

According to my knowledgeable friend Lora:
"Each season is connected to a set of organs in the body. Corresponding foods that are fresh in each season are meant to cleanse, detoxify, and heal those organs. When we eat the same diet year-round without paying attention to seasonal foods, we ignore our bodies' needs to support and properly heal organs, which leads to lots of health issues (obesity, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, etc.)."

So. Here's what you should eat right now:

Have you ever grabbed a musty garlic clove, or had a green bell pepper ooze through your fingers when you pull it of the bag? Everyone has had an avocado or potato go past its prime. I find it ideal to shop according to the seasons. Once you get your bounty home, what are good rules of thumb to keep fresh and ready as long as possible? I came across the following cute Periodic Table of Produce in Simple Life magazine. It's a novel, practical approach. I even tore my copies out for future reference, but thought that you might like to take a look at them here first. I scanned them in and the full table is after the jump. The images are big, so you may have to be patient for the few seconds it takes for the images to load.